


bookends

by ZARCV



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Gen, some one-shot on an idea i had for Z-ARC and yuya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 12:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8248361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZARCV/pseuds/ZARCV
Summary: the more things changethe more things stay the same
[ one-shot ]





	

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He shouted, cutting through the cheers and applause. "The fun's just about to end!"

His dragon had crushed his opponent and their monster under its foot, and vibrant green eyes snarling with pride.

Z-ARC drank in the audience's cheers. They were calling his name, and it was only right. He was their king, their emperor, and he ruled the very ground he stood on.

Still, he wasn't satisfied yet. He wanted more. So much more, and they would give it all to him, one way or the other. Until they could no longer take their eyes off him.

 

Off the stage, Z-ARC tore his cape off with a hunger gnawing at his mind. He stared into his mirror with a blankness settling in his face.

His reflection stared back at him with gold eyes that had once seen an entire world ahead of them. Now they were hollow and starving, and he could not sate them.

Z-ARC closed his eyes, hand pressed against his head as the memory crashed over him.

He found a younger version of himself, much younger than he had felt in years, tugging an older man's sleeve. His father's.

When his father ignored him with a look of disgust edging his lips, Z-ARC pulled away from the memory, shaking his head wildly to clear the past from his thoughts.

No, it would not do for the king to dwell on his past. He pulled his hand away, placing his deck on the desk and spreading it.

His dragons peered up at him from their frames, voices coming together as one.

"Odd-Eyes." He mumbled, stroking a thumb on the edge of the dragon's card. "You're here, at least."

The dragon was silent, its voice drowned out by its more talkative companions.

Yes... He could hear Clear Wing's voice at the edges of his hearing, aching for battle, thrill, and glory. And he too, could hear Starve Venom, thirsting to protect, destroy to protect, and trying to stay alive.

And Dark Rebellion's tolling like a bell, telling him that he should only trust himself, to wield his trust like an edged dagger.

He couldn't hear Odd-Eyes anymore, but his presence was still there. Quiet and observant.

Very unlike his dragon.

"Why don't we unmake this world together," Z-ARC whispered to his dragons. "Let's show them who's in charge."

 

A long path stretched ahead of Z-ARC, illuminating his long walk in a strange, red light.

And one by one the pieces of the boy under Z-ARC's mask fell away, into shards. When it crashed against an unseen floor, red eyes opened wide with a kindness flowing in his irises.

The figure struggled to pull free, before finally shedding the blackened shell he had long since slumbered in. Shivering in the cold, he began to crawl, then walk, away, away from the path stretched behind him, into the unseen darkness.

And then he ran, as his hair crackled and bled from blue, to a vibrant red. He leapt into the air with a smile on his face...

 

Strong Ishijima looked shocked as his monsters shattered into shards of light, with a dragon towering over his head like a descending angel.

Yuya cracked a bright, sunny smile, winking at him for a moment before turning his gaze back on the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He swept his arms into the air, clinging tightly to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's spikes. "The fun's only just getting started!"

He drank in the cheers and the sound of his name on the tongues of his audience. And he was satisfied.


End file.
